The terrible financials facing Emirates at the moment hasn’t stopped it from scooping up awards. Yesterday, the mega carrier won four more accolades at the Business Traveller Middle East Awards, including Best Airline Worldwide.
Certainly, something sets Emirates apart from rival airlines such as United Airlines. Speaking of the United ‘Dragging Incident’ the carriers President, Tim Clark commented: “We don’t go about our business in that way. It’s symptomatic of a corporate culture within that company from the board and chief executive downwards.”
Elsewhere, Norwegian has announced a new low-cost route between Singapore and London. The new service will start on 28th September with prices starting at £179 ($230 USD) one-way. Qantas has also revealed the schedule for its first direct service between Australia and the UK. The first flight will depart Heathrow on 6th March 2018.
A full summary continues below.
Emirates Named Best Airline Worldwide at Business Traveller Middle East Awards
24th April 2017 – Courtesy Emirates and Gulf News
The Dubai-based airline took home four accolades at the Business Traveller Middle East 2017 Awards. As well as being named Best Airline Worldwide, Emirates also won Airline with the Best First Class, Airline with the Best First Class Lounge and Best Frequent Flyer Programme.
Speaking at the ceremony, Adel Al Redha, Chief Operations Officer said: “I would like to thank our team and attribute this award to our dedicated staff who are the pillars behind every achievement and award we receive.”
Late last year, Emirates completed a $11 million USD makeover of its Business Class Lounge at Dubai International Airport. The airline has also recently unveiled a new look bar and lounge for its flagship Airbus A380 aircraft.
Meanwhile, Gulf News has sought the opinion of several aviation experts who agree that Emirates was right to trim back its U.S. services. Addison Schonland, a Partner at US-based AirInsight was quoted as saying:
“I think it is the right move to save costs. They (Emirates) need to better match capacity and demand. So while it hurts revenue a bit, it does far more by cutting costs, and in the end they end up losing much less,”
Norwegian Continues Global Expansion with New London – Singapore Route
20th April 2017 – Courtesy The Points Guy
The low-cost, long-haul airline, Norwegian is continuing its global expansion with a new route from London to Singapore. The service will pit Norwegian against British Airways and Singapore Airways who are currently the only two airlines to operate direct flights between the two cities.
One way tickets from London Gatwick (LGW) to Singapore will start at £179 ($230 USD). Tickets for seats in the Premium cabin will start at £699 ($897 USD). The service will initially operate 4x weekly using a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
“Travel should be affordable for all so adding Singapore to our growing UK network will give passengers even more choice for affordable, quality travel to a range of global destinations,” said Norwegian CEO, Bjorn Kjos.
“The UK is at the heart of Norwegian’s ambitious plans for growth so it is a significant moment not only to launch this exciting new route, but also for it to be the first long-haul route to take to the skies with our new ‘Norwegian UK’ subsidiary.”
Will the U.S. Ban Electronics on Flights Departing from the UK?
25th April 2017 – Courtesy The Guardian
Unnamed government sources have been cited by The Guardian in speculation about an extended Electronics Ban. The sources have suggested that the Trump administration is considering banning laptops and other electronics on U.S. flights departing from the UK.
Gillian Christensen, a spokeswoman for the US Department of Homeland Security, said of the rumour: “We’ve said we will continue to evaluate the threat environment and make determinations based on that assessment, but we have not made any decisions on expanding the current restrictions against large electronic devices in aircraft cabins from selected airports.”
The current Electronics Ban does not affect any U.S. airlines. Extending the ban to the UK would have a severe impact on the Big Three U.S. carriers – American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.
Tickets to Go on Sale for Direct Australia – UK Flights
23 April 2017 – Courtesy The Independent
In somewhat of an ‘exclusive’, The Independent has revealed the likely schedule for the first direct flights between Australia and the UK. The first of which will depart on 26th March 2018 for the 17-hour flight between London and Perth.
The 9,009-mile distance is now only possible because of the range afforded by using a Boeing Dreamliner 787-9. The service will depart Heathrow at 10 am and arrive in Perth at noon the following day. After a short stop, the flight will then continue to Melbourne.
The return flight to London will depart Melbourne at 7 pm and then leave Perth at around 10 pm. But with prevailing headwinds the journey will take an hour longer, arriving into London at about 7 am.
Emirates’ President, Tim Clark Slams United Airlines
20th April 2017 – Courtesy CNN Money
In an interview with CNN Money, Tim Clark, the President of Emirates has slammed United Airlines following the ‘passenger dragging incident’. Speaking of the incident in which Dr David Dao was dragged off a United plane by security officers at Chicago airport, Clark commented:
“Let me say it was a disgrace. It shamed the airline industry as a whole,”
“We don’t go about our business in that way. It’s symptomatic of a corporate culture within that company from the board and chief executive downwards.”
Clark was also highly critical of United CEO Oscar Munoz who initially blamed Dao for causing the incident. He has since apologised several times but Clark believes Munoz should resign.
“Had it been me in that position I would’ve have had blue flashing lights on cars going right through the company to find out how this could’ve been allowed to happen in the first place. That was probably the last thing I do before I resigned.”
